Monday, December 26, 2011

I caught the below video on Yahoo!, with a nice little writeup on this kid in the class of 2014. Long story short: a kid who is much better than everyone else on the floor throws one down, and he is almost immediately ejected from the game for taunting (with a back-to-back technical call).

Here's the video:

Loads of crap.

I was reviewing some of the comments on the Yahoo! story, and the reaction was all over the place: it was an offensive foul, kid shouldn't of been hot-dogging, the ref is racist... on and on.

Here's where I sit:

That referee thinks he's bigger than the game. And that's a problem with me.

It was a clear case of this kid being better than everyone else, and the referee didn't like it and took it upon himself to 'equalize' the playing field. It is not the place of a referee to do this - the teams determine how level the playing field through their practice, preparation, and sometimes just sheer talent. And this dude tilted that playing field against the better team. I can tell from 10 seconds of video that this kid was far and away the best player on the floor (just from defensive stances, his teammates' floor positions, and the defense's floor rotation when he breaks loose from his defender).

And this referee felt like it put the other team at a disadvantage and targeted this kid.

It's not his fault he's better than everyone else - it's their fault for not being as good. Fair or not.

No, I don't think he should have been given a technical for pausing/posing on the baseline (NOT staring down the kid he just humiliated) - he did just make an amazing play after all, and perhaps he needed a moment to take in what he just did. (Yes, that can happen.) Nor do I think he should have been given a technical for saluting/acknowledging his OWN fans during a dead ball.

Yep, that's Teddy. There's no reason
we should know his name, but we do.

The bigger issue is that this kind of stuff happens all the time. Referees (particularly in basketball, it seems) often times can feel like they should be a major part of the game. That is all wrong. From junior high basketball refs to Teddy 'TV' Valentine or Tim Higgins in the NCAA - something about that whistle gives these guys a power trip that they just can't seem to handle. It's not universal - of course there are thousands of referees everywhere that do as good as they can with a difficult job. But those that take advantage of their situation and take it out on kids - are cowards and bullies. Bully cowards. And I don't like that.

There should be accountability - and rarely is it ever implemented. Those who say you should never question the referee or risk damaging their ability to umpire - I say boo to you. See above. The ref was looking for an opportunity to get rid of this kid, and he took it. That's not cool - and I don't think this guy should be allowed to ref again this season.

I'll finish this off with a quick story of my time as a high school basketball coach. An acquaintance of mine had just gotten some work reffing some high school games - and he was assigned to one of my games. He was nervous going in - he told me - but after the game, he came up to me and asked me what I thought of the job he did. I told him he was perfect. He had called fouls against my team and the opponent, so there didn't seem to be any favoritism (we weren't 'friends' - just two guys who knew each other). He asked me why I told him that he was perfect, as he said he hadn't called a perfect game or anything. I told him that I thought he was great because I didn't even really realize he was there - he didn't take away any attention from the game onto himself.

And that is what a good referee does.

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Thursday, December 22, 2011

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Monday, December 19, 2011

A little late posting on this (or anything else, it seems...), but my buddy LT and I are in a bowl pool together. Let this be your guide to betting this bowl season. Either by following our lead, or by going the other way. You decide.

And yes, we know that Ohio was a bad beat.

And of course, if you'd like to follow me on Twitter, you can do so: @harry_long. I'd also appreciate it if you 'liked' the Facebook page of A Total Waste of Blog. You can do that at the top right of this page, or you can do it here. And you see all those buttons under the title of this post? That's how you share this thing. Get to it.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Just saw that Tim Tebow is actually magical, as the Broncos knock down two +50 yard field goals to beat Chicago. And, yes, we did bet on the fighting Tebows today.

Speaking of magic & Tebow, I've got a friend who took a trip to NYC this weekend. She wound up in the middle of a Santa Convention. Here's your proof...

Santas at the bar...

And on the subway...

Birthday boy.

So, it looks like all good fun, right? But wait, what's up with that last guy? Here he is again...

What is hairy, Asics-wearing Jesus doing?

It looks like Jesus is about to strike a familiar pose...

Of course.

Now it all makes sense. Tebow is not a fan of Jesus. Jesus is a fan of Tebow.

All he does is win. (win. win.)

And of course, if you'd like to follow me on Twitter, you can do so: @harry_long. I'd also appreciate it if you 'liked' the Facebook page of A Total Waste of Blog. You can do that at the top right of this page, or you can do it here. And you see all those buttons under the title of this post? That's how you share this thing. Get to it.

I guess one of the great(?) things about spending a lot of my time in Alabama, is that today, December 11th - two weeks after Alabama and Auburn played - this is still there:

RTR

This dude has heart. How long is Billy Bob going to keep this going?

Keep in mind we had about three straight days of solid rain last week. Is this dude parking his car under a tree? Will this even come down if Bama wins the national title?

And, yes, that is a Talladega tag.

And of course, if you'd like to follow me on Twitter, you can do so: @harry_long. I'd also appreciate it if you 'liked' the Facebook page of A Total Waste of Blog. You can do that at the top right of this page, or you can do it here. And you see all those buttons under the title of this post? That's how you share this thing. Get to it.

Monday, December 5, 2011

I've got lots of writer friends who from time to time make a grammar or spelling mistake in their columns or articles. And I've been one to do it as well on my little platform here. But over the years, I've found myself falling into being a bit of a grammar hound. I blame Mrs. Thagard from 4th through 6th grade English. Lady was a hound.

However, when your gig is PR - for one of the premier teams in the NFL - make sure you get at least the headline right.

Looks like spelling isn't much of a big deal in San Fran.

Yes, someone forgot the second half of "I before E".

(And when will people figure out the difference between "loose" and "lose"?)

And of course, if you'd like to follow me on Twitter, you can do so: @harry_long. I'd also appreciate it if you 'liked' the Facebook page of A Total Waste of Blog. You can do that at the top right of this page, or you can do it here. And you see all those buttons under the title of this post? That's how you share this thing. Get to it.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Tim Tebow continues his roll in the NFL (and continues to win me money, but that's besides the point...), so we'll continue to be bombarded by the talking heads about why he still isn't an NFL quarterback. That may or may not be, but this I do know - you will be marketed to.

I came across this ad, and I'm not sure how Mr. Tebow would feel about this ad from the folks at 55jerseys.com...

Sort of feels like an 'Oh My God' reference, even abbreviated, is a little inappropriate when referring to Tebow.

And of course, if you'd like to follow me on Twitter, you can do so: @harry_long. I'd also appreciate it if you 'liked' the Facebook page of A Total Waste of Blog. You can do that at the top right of this page, or you can do it here. And you see all those buttons under the title of this post? That's how you share this thing. Get to it.